Update, 1 p.m.: At Coney Island, Joey Chestnut wins his fifth straight title, while Takeru Kobayashi, eating in sync at a Manhattan rooftop bar, claims to have broken the world record, consuming 69 dogs in ten minutes. Time will tell whether the record is recognized.

Call them the ten most gluttonous minutes of the year.

At Coney Island Monday, the annual Independence Day ritual of excess is about to begin, when the so-called ‘horsemen of the esophagus’ attempt to out-consume one another for a $10,000 prize. The Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest begins at noon, and the Journal’s resident competitive eating expert, Chris Hardesty, will be live-blogging from Surf Avenue. This year’s competition, the first to feature a separate event for women, completed around 11:45, with Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas taking the first-ever title.

The weather at Coney Island is overcast and muggy as the competitors ready for battle. [Major Leage Eating chief] George Shea’s intros are always entertaining, but I hope he has some new material this year.

Interesting: Male competitors have always had ‘bunnettes’, girls who count the hot dogs eaten and help generally. During the women’s competition — Sonya Thomas, by the way, consumed 40 dogs in her win — bun men kept the tally.

At 230 FIFTH, a highlight reel but still no sign of Kobi. (To the question of competitive eating: I recognize competitive eating as a sport. Though it might be better categorized as a skilled competition. )

As Shea is listing the varied accomplishments of the competitive eaters, something to note: Many eaters say Nathan’s contest is their favorite, but few will say hot dogs are their favorite ‘discipline.’

Miles away from Coney Island, Kobayashi may well have broken the world record, proving that he remains as one of the best eaters in the world. I’m interested in hearing the response from the MLE. Will they acknowledge the count? It’s time for the two sides to reconcile.